Welcome to the Japanofiles, a podcast about Japan. This podcast, which began in 2009, presents interviews that have been recorded in Japan. Most of the interviewees are English-speaking foreign residents of Nagano Prefecture who live in the greater Matsumoto area. They share their stories about living and working in Japan. The host of this Japan podcast, Dave Carlson, is a long-time resident of Matsumoto.

In Episode 22 of The Japanofiles Podcast, David Varnes talks about how his interest in Japan grew slowly over many years, and why he became interested in martial arts. He then explains his decision to move to Japan and talks about his involvement with several Japanese judodojos, and he also explains what it is like to train and compete in Japan.